Fuel

Life is like a fire. The longer it lasts the bigger it gets. Your environment, your worries, even your ideals and standards. And on an impersonal side of it, as life in general carries on things get bigger in essence. Granted our cell phones get smaller and smaller while doing more and more, but life around us gets bigger; bigger buildings, bigger crises, larger debt; longer and more devastating war. And like a fire, eventually it's all going to run out of fuel.

More than likely on that personal level it isn't so much "life" that runs out of fuel, but our hearts. Granted, at the end of it all, our average of 70 years life-span, runs out of fuel, we pass away. But more often than not one's spirit breaks first. A kerosene lamp cannot continue burning once its out of kerosene, it dies like a hungry bear. Our lives run on the same basic principle. In the same way our physical aspects run on food and water, our spiritual aspect can only be fueled by God in our lives. In John 4, Christ examples this perfectly: "³¹Meanwhile his disciples urged him, 'Rabbi, eat something.' ³²But he said to them, 'I have food to eat that you know nothing about'" His disciples did not yet fully understand the power of God in their lives. God is fuel for our soul, and without him, we will wither.

But having God as a canteen and a tv dinner is not enough. These are temporary things, made for a temporary thing. In verse 34 Jesus continues on to say, "My food is to do the will him who sent me and to finish his work." Our food is not just believing in God and existing in that belief, but to continue to pass on that belief and live according to it. If you are a Christian and think that this holds no point for you then remember the final verses in Matthew 28, "¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and 'make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" You cannot deny that you've been sent, and you cannot deny that God has clearly defined what your spiritual food is.

God is fuel for our fire. Our life force, essentially, is God. Yes we can physically exist without him guiding and directing our lives, but we cannot truly live without him. We cannot escape destruction without God. Nor can we simply survive on some sort of spiritual high from an emotional moment. A spiritual high is no different than a drug high, temporary and empty. True fuel will come from God's will being done through you.

Now the question becomes, can I really live without God and doing God's will. Or am I just an empty lamp, giving off no light, no warmth and no life. We are the lamp, spreading God's word, will we hide ourselves under a bowl? (Matthew 5:15)

God Bless,

Derek